Dental implants are increasingly popular as a way to replace missing or damaged teeth.

Their great advantage is that they look natural and feel secure helping you to restore your smile and eat more easily.

Implants are an ideal solution for many people but they are not an option for everyone.

Placing implants requires some surgery so patients must be in good
health, have healthy gums and have adequate bone to support the implant.

They must also be committed to taking action to maintain their oral hygiene and to visiting the dentist regularly.

The process for placing implants is as follows:

First, surgery is performed to place the anchor. This can take up to
several hours. Following the surgery, you may need to wait up to six
months for the bone to grow around the anchor and firmly hold it in
place. Sometimes follow up surgery is required to attach a post to
connect the anchor to the replacement teeth. Alternatively, the anchor
and post may already be attached and are placed at the same time.

After the gums have had several weeks to heal, the next step is to fit
specially-made artificial teeth to the post portion of the anchor. This
can take a few weeks to complete as several fittings may be required.

Implant surgery can be done either in a dental office or in a hospital,
depending upon a number of factors. A local or general anesthetic may be
used. Usually pain medications and, when necessary, antibiotics are
prescribed.

After your implants are fitted, your dentist will give you tips and advice on maintaining your oral hygiene.

Your dentist can help you decide whether you would be a good candidate for implants.

At Stephen R. Henry DDS dentist office in Foster City CA, your smile is our top priority. Dr. Stephen Henry & entire team is dedicated to providing you with the personalized, gentle care that you deserve. Part of our commitment to serving our patients includes providing information that helps th…

06/15/2017
Implants are one of the most important developments in dental care over recent years.
They have created opportunities that didn’t exist before for people to
improve their dental health and create the smile they want.
Implants were discovered by Swedish scientist and orthopedic surgeon Dr... Read More »